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From the Guide:"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

Jamie noted that over at Schneier's blog, he has a worthwhile entry on the data in the social networks. He writes
"Lately I've been reading about user security and privacy — control, really — on social networking sites. The issues are hard and the solutions harder, but I'm seeing a lot of confusion in even forming the questions. Social networking sites deal with several different types of user data, and it's essential to separate them."

It's a noble idea to get unfettered, free access to everyone, but if you want to keep business in the loop, you're either going to get extremely draconian with laws and enforcement or you'll have to give up trying to police them altogether.

Free Internet access isn't the big deal here as far as I'm concerned. Libraries provide free Internet access, and while like you say the internet isn't needed, neither are books technically speaking. Having information available for free is a good thing. It's just not something I think we need to be spending a lot of energy providing with tax money and regulations and what not.

Having a Free Internet, on the other hand, is of the utmost importance to me.

westlake (615356) writes "Telus, Canada's No. 2 phone company, has ended sales of soft core porn to it's cell phone customers following complaints from the Roman Catholic Church and others. Telus was the first North American carrier to offer adult content for download. $3 for stills, $4 for videos. Access to adult content on the web remains unrestricted, but Telus seems to have badly underestimated resistance to the public download of porn and the risks for a carrier in becoming a dealer in porn. Telus bows to pressure, ends phone porn downloads"

warrior_s (881715) writes "Cisco Systems and Apple said Wednesday they have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit over the use of the iPhone name for Apple's new multimedia phone.
The agreement allows Apple and Cisco to use the iPhone brand on their own products. Also, the companies said that they would explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, consumer and business communications."

An anonymous reader writes "The Birmingham Post reports that two Hungarian scientists have now come up with an algorithm that helps computers pick the right move in Go (an ancient Chinese board game that is still popular in Asia). Though computers have beat top players in chess, even the most powerful computer failed to beat top players in Go. The new method uses two processors instead of one. Though 19x19 board is still tough for computers, "On a nine by nine board we are not far from reaching the level of a professional Go player," said Levente Kocsis at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' computing lab SZTAKI."